Empowered Funds LLC Buys 2,263 Shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,263 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Wingstop were worth $7,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Wingstop during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Wingstop in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Wingstop by 60.3% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 93 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Wingstop by 60.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Wingstop from $417.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wingstop from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James raised shares of Wingstop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.74.

Wingstop Price Performance

Wingstop stock opened at $316.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $376.42 and its 200 day moving average is $384.42. Wingstop Inc. has a one year low of $223.30 and a one year high of $433.86. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.76.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 22.69% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $162.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is currently 31.49%.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.